Nigeria's Joint Task Force, or JTF, says it killed 24 Boko Haram members during a clash in the city of Maiduguri late Monday and recovered an assortment of weapons. A statement said the militants had been using civilian homes to attack JTF personnel.

Witnesses have accused the JTF of committing human rights abuses in its fight against Boko Haram. Last week, the force denied reports that soldiers killed at least 30 people and burned shops and houses in Maiduguri in revenge for a bombing.

Human Rights Watch said in a report last week that both sides may be responsible for crimes against humanity.

Boko Haram is blamed for killing more than 1,500 people since 2009 in bombings and shootings, mainly against police, government officials and churches.

Much about the group remains unclear, but the militants are believed to want a strict form of Islamic law applied across northern Nigeria.